₦airaland Forum

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FHPkEO6LcJE?si=7wT_YHTlEIbNiAD_

National Moon Sighting Committee @moonsightingng

Assalamu alaikum,

His Eminence the Sultan of Sokoto has announced that Saturday, March 1st, marks the beginning of Ramadan 1446, following confirmed sighting reports from Maiduguri and Bama.

Ramadan Mubarak!

https://x.com/moonsightingng/status/1895548956496859521?t=U-XCIdcc79qdQkgcXQKOuQ&s=19

Simwal @simwal

With the approval of His Eminence the Sultan of Sokoto, the new moon of Ramadan has been sighted in some locations in Nigeria. The first day of Ramadan 1446 will be on Saturday, March 1st. His Eminence is anticipated to give his standard broadcast at approximately 8 PM , in sha Allah.
Ramadan Mubarak 🌙

https://x.com/Simwal/status/1895541874586271970?t=MKPDH8Z9obUijs-gL1hrGQ&s=19


NSCIA - Islamic Affairs @NSCIAng

His Eminence, the Sultan of Sokoto and President-General of the Nigerian Supreme Council for Islamic Affairs (NSCIA), shall make a broadcast shortly by 8:00pm.

#RamadanMubarak

https://x.com/NSCIAng/status/1895546122967699765?t=cHU9EEZ0oAz7oyBk0fWGMw&s=19

Why can’t Yoruba Muslims sight the moon?

Ronu mooslims are not permitted to sight the moon

Maŕhaban bika Ya Ramadan

YOUNGELDER1:
Why can’t Yoruba Muslims sight the moon?

.

Jamiubond009:
Ronu mooslims are not permitted to sight the moon

....

K

Alhamdulillahi
May our prayers be accepted. Ameen

TheChameleon:
They have 6 more years to cry. Doesn't mean we would grant them independence or permit them to rule.

Big difference between Slaves & Ruling Class.

Chai!! Tamper Justice with Mercy ejo!!

Very soon we shall have Sultan of Lagos

Islamaphobic tendencies in this country is too high. It is obvious that they are coming from non Muslim people. Islam is bigger than media propaganda.

May Allah ease our affairs this Ramadan and make us sustain the all the good we learn in this blessed month.

Aameen.

Ramadan Mubarak.

May this be the Best Ramadan yet (Ameen)

Ramadan Kareem.

YOUNGELDER1:
Why can’t Yoruba Muslims sight the moon?

Anybody can sight the moon.

Alhamdulillah for His mercy

YOUNGELDER1:
Why can’t Yoruba Muslims sight the moon?

naptu2:
Sun, moon, calendar, Ramadan and funny ignorance

These ideas were fully formed in my mind by 1987, but I have seen new and very funny examples of ignorance every year since then.

Ignorance

Someone wished another person happy new year (back in the late 1980s) and the person thanked her, but said that he was not a Christian. Many people that were around were shocked. They said that she was referring to the New Year and that it had nothing to do with Christianity. In fact, some of them asked me what the New Year had to do with Christianity.

They were wrong. It's got a lot to do with Christianity.

This second example sounded very funny to me because, luckily, I had learnt the science behind it way back in the 1980s, before I heard the ignorance in the 2000s. Someone referred to the moon sighting for Ramadan and said that it was evidence that Muslims worshipped the moon. I laughed at him.

I had never heard this crazy idea before I started reading Nairaland. I assumed that every Nigerian knew the truth. After all, it was announced on the NTA Network News every year (as far back as I can remember). Some crazy person said that only the Sultan of Sokoto could see the new moon and he questioned why it was only the Sultan that was allowed to see the new moon. I felt sure that he was mad.

Year, month, day

I am not going to be very detailed about this first part because it is almost 40 years since I read about it and I can't remember the minute details.

Between 1985 and 1987 I read all about how our modern calendar was created. The calendar is based on the earth's revolution around the sun. The earth revolves around the sun in 365¼ days. The ¼ leads to a full day every 4 years and that's how we have our leap year (the extra day is in February).

The moon revolves around the earth in 27.3 days (it takes around 29.5 for us to see the new moon). This gives us our month.

It takes 23 hours and 56 minutes (basically 24 hours) for the earth to rotate on its axis. This gives us our day.

Hold on a second. I said that it takes around 27-29 days for the moon to rotate around the earth and this gives us our month, but 30 days have September, April, June and November; all the rest have 31, except February alone, so what's responsible for the difference?

Gregorian Calendar

It's all about how our calendar was created. Various religious and political leaders manipulated the calendar to suit their needs. Julius Ceaser created July and made it the longest month, Augustus Ceaser created August and made it the longest month and Pope Gregory The 13th (Pope of the Catholic Church in the 1500s) rearranged the calendar into the form that we know today. It is called the Gregorian Calendar (that's right, it is a Christian calendar).

All these changes altered the number of months in the Gregorian calendar (there are more changes that I did not list, for example, January is named after Janus, the Roman god of beginnings, but as I said, I won't be detailed in this section).

You can easily tell that it is a Christian calendar because of the dates. We are in 2024 AD. AD means Anno Domini, which means, "In the year of our Lord". The full form is anno Domini nostri Jesu Christi", which translates to "in the year of our Lord Jesus Christ". It marks the time from the death of Jesus Christ and some refer to it as "After Death". The term BC means Before Christ.


The Gregorian calendar is not the only calendar that exists and is being used. There is the Chinese calendar, the Ethiopian calendar, the Hijri (or Islamic) calendar, etc.

National Concord newspaper wrote the dates in both the Gregorian and the Hijri calendars on its front page in the 1980s and early 1990s.

Hijri Calendar

The Hijri calendar is based on the revolution of the moon around the earth. A year consists of 12 lunar months, that is 354 or 355 days.

Just as the dates in the Gregorian calendar are marked by the death of Jesus Christ (AD and BC), the dates in the Hijri calendar are marked by the migration of Prophet Muhammad from Mecca to Medina (this is known as the Hijrah).

It is because the Hijri calendar is a lunar calendar, that's why people are asked to look out for the new moon. They are not worshipping the moon, they are simply using it to tell the time. That is, they are using it to determine when a new month starts.

For example, Ramadan is one of the months of the Hijri calendar. Muslims are enjoined to fast during the month. That's why people look out for the new moon, because they want to determine when the month starts and ends.

Moon sighting

I am also not going to be very detailed in this section because this knowledge is from many decades ago.

All Muslims are asked to look out for the new moon that signifies the beginning of the new month. However, for the sake of unity and uniformity, Muslims are required to report a sighting to the leader in their area, so that the Muslim faithful can carry out the tasks (beginning of fast, celebration of Eid, etc) together. Anyone can sight the moon, but he is required to report such sighting to the leader who will announce that the moon has been seen.

In Nigeria, the Supreme Council for Islamic Affairs (SCIA) is the umbrella body for Muslims in the country. The Sultan of Sokoto is usually the president-general of the SCIA, while the secretary-general of the SCIA is usually a southerner (for a long time it was Dr Lateef Adegbite).

There is also a National Moon Sighting Committee. The National Moon Sighting Committee usually asks Muslims to look out for the new moon and it provides phone numbers that people can call if they see it.

Once it has been confirmed that the moon has been seen, the Sultan of Sokoto will make the announcement that the new month has begun and he will state where and when the moon was seen and who confirmed it.

This is all very simple and easy for a sensible person to understand.

The secretary general of the NSCIA is currently Professor Ishaq Oloyede.

Old fashion something Yoruba people have stated March 1 as their starting day if him like make he know see moon all this old style are not for educated people that’s why Yoruba people left them behind something they have predicted one month ahead in Saudi u don’t need to sight anything it’s already in calendar

This announcement will upset my southern Christian brothers, who are eager to see division among Nigerian Muslims.

They mistakenly believe that Islamic leadership positions come with significant financial rewards and personal comfort for those who hold them.
Which is why they fight themselves over leadership positions every now and then!

Antlislaam:
Hope you've taken your breakfast meal now that your 1-0-1 fasting has commence

This one
You sleep on Islam and Muslim topics
Your obsession has reached pathetic heights
What a pity, your soul must really be in pains

National Moon Sighting Committee @moonsightingng

Today’s date is Saturday 1st Ramadan 1446H /1st March 2025.

https://x.com/moonsightingng/status/1895693597124804701?t=AeIw5EIDj4nWOwlQiMPqpg&s=19

NOETHNICITY:
This announcement will upset my southern Christian brothers, who are eager to see division among Nigerian Muslims.

They mistakenly believe that Islamic leadership positions come with significant financial rewards and personal comfort for those who hold them.
Which is why they fight themselves over leadership positions every now and then!

Dem think say na Pastorprenuership or Daddy GO.
Wetin person no sabi, pass am.

Alhamdulillah ala ni'imatul Islam.

EKOMADENG:
Something for Ipob criminals to masturbate on. Time to show their chronic hatred towards Muslim and Islam.

Unfortunately for them, it changes nothing.